New Streaming Server script live-links Mosketch to Maya
Moka Studio has released Mosketch 0.17, the latest update to its unusual animation tool for posing characters by sketching directly onto the viewport, without the need for a control rig.
The update adds Streaming Server, a Python script that provides a live link to Maya, enabling artists to animate in Mosketch and see the motion transferred to Maya in real time.
Pose a character by sketching in the viewport, then transfer the pose to Maya in real time
First released last year, Mosketch enables artists to animate 3D characters without the need for a control rig.
To block out an animation, users simply sketch lines of action for the key poses, with Mosketch positioning the character’s joints accordingly, either on a plane or preserving their original orientations.
As well as entire chains of joints, animators can manipulate individual joints directly to adjust a pose, with support for both FK and IK. You can find more details of the workflow in our original story.
To that, Mosketch 0.17 adds Streaming Server, a Python script that enables the software to send or receive joint values for a character over a local network.
That makes it possible to animate in Mosketch and see the character update in another DCC tool in real time; or to adjust the character’s pose in another tool and transfer the result back to Mosketch.
The script is written for Maya, but it’s open source: Moka Studio says that it hopes that other tools developers will adapt it for their own software.
Pricing and availability
Mosketch Light 0.17 is available in early access for Windows 7+ and Mac OS X 10.10+. The MSRP is $180, but while the software is in alpha, it is available at a 60% discount. There is also a free trial version.
The software supports Wacom’s Intuos and Cintiq graphics tablets and pen displays, but it’s also possible to use it with a standard mouse and keyboard.